...
- It's annoying that Upwork makes you propose milestones before the client has fully specified what they need.
- I'm not sure of a better way to handle it, though. Maybe allow the freelancer to modify the proposal after having chatted with the client? That might already be possible, I'd need to look into it.
Tips
For freelancers
Deciding what rate you should ask for
- If you're already Top-Rated and have as much work as you can handle, you can put a higher-than-your-current-rate rate on your profile, and if you have clients reach out to you and offer you work at that rate, you can just swap out one of your existing customers for this new customer.
- See how you match up with other Python devs:
https://www.upwork.com/ab/profiles/search/?nss=90&q=python&revenue=10000&rate=60&pt=independent&hrs=100&last=15&user_pref=2&page=17
My look at how my rate compares with 'the market'
- https://www.upwork.com/ab/profiles/search/?nss=90&q=python&revenue=10000&hrs=100&english=2&last=15&c=web-mobile-software-dev&user_pref=2&sc=web-development
- There are 173 freelancers and 25 agencies that have stats similar to mine.
- There are only 37 freelancers like me who have taken the Python test and scored in the top 30%. Of those only 1 charges between $10-30/hr, 7 charge between $30-60/hr, and 19 charge $60/hr and above, and only 5 have "Python" in their job title.
- Freelancers and agencies that are similar to me have their hourly rates listed as follows:
- Total: 198
- $10 and below - 0
- $10-30 - 15
- $30-60 - 62
- $60 & above - 121
- Of the $60 & above group, it seems $65 is close to the average, with the standard deviation being maybe $15 (so rates tend to range from $50-80).
Getting notified about new jobs
...